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On Wednesday January 13, the Center held a virtual kick-off meeting of the Subject Matter Expert group that will be working with Center Instructional Designers to develop instruction-ready courses for Rail Car Maintainers. Center staff oriented SMEs to the project by reviewing project tasks, presenting preliminary findings of the training needs analysis and introducing the Center's proven model for courseware development. The Rail Car Training Consortium will follow the same model as previous maintenance training consortia (Transit Elevator/Escalator and Signals) - both in development process and courseware format.
It was decided that the first topics for which courseware will be developed are auxiliary inverters and batteries and HVAC systems. The webinar ended by SMEs selecting which courseware development team in which they will participate.
For more information:
- Preview courseware materials from other training consortia:
- Contact project manager Xinge Wang
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Public transport partner TransLoc has been in the public transportation technology business for some time. Their app, TransLoc Rider, allows riders in participating markets to plan their trip and get real-time information on buses, trolleys and metros headed their way. TransLoc has announced a deal with Uber that involves integration into the TransLoc Rider app. Essentially, the app will show riders a trip that can consist of walking, public transport and Uber. TransLoc believes this will help to make public transport a more viable option for a wider variety of riders. According to them, public transport options lose a decent number of would-be riders simply because the nearest bus or train stop to a potential rider's home or destination ends up being too far to walk.
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The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and local officials celebrated the grand opening of the RTC's new Mobility Training Center (MTC) on January 7, 2016. The MTC is designed to increase mobility among Southern Nevadans, especially senior residents and persons with disabilities, by equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to use public transportation throughout Clark County, according to officials. With the MTC now open, RTC specialists can teach clients how to use public transit safely and efficiently in a contained environment that simulates the outdoors. The RTC provides free transit mobility training in a group or one-on-one setting to local residents.
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International Transportation News
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Kandi Technologies Group, Inc., today announced that the Micro Public Transportation ("MPT") program has expanded to 16 cities in China as of the end of 2015, exceeding the Company's previous target of 15 cities. The cities include Hangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Changzhou, Rugao, Kunming, Tianjin, Jinhua, Chongqing, Haikou, Shenzhen and Xiangtan. The Company launched the MPT program in the second half of 2013. Mr. Hu Xiaoming, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kandi, commented, "The Micro Public Transportation program is a unique business model specializing in the hourly sharing and leasing of electric vehicles (EVs) as an extension of public transportation, and is supported by the government's dedication to developing the EV industry and emerging cities in China.
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Thousands of New Yorkers thought it was a hot thing Sunday to strip to their underwear during winter and ride on public transportation, along with pant less crowds in about 60 countries. "I'm a no-pant virgin," declared a grinning Miguel Ramos amid New York's No Pants Subway Ride. It was the Mexican-born restaurant worker's first foray into the "international celebration of silliness," as organizers billed it. The laughter-filled ritual started in the largest U.S. city in 2002 and has expanded nationwide and overseas, from Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas to London, Berlin, Prague and Vienna. It's coordinated by Improv Everywhere, a global flash mob.
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Sound Transit will pay its new chief executive $298,000 this year and put about $24,000 toward retirement savings. And he'll get a free ORCA card.
Peter Rogoff left his old job directing the Federal Transit Administration to dive into Seattle's transit challenges last week. The renewable three-year contract, which includes an "attention and effort" clause, was unanimously approved by local elected officials on the transit board in December. In return for the pay, he's expected to spend nearly every waking hour pondering what could become a $20 billion ballot measure this fall, along with how to build and operate the voter-approved 50-mile light-rail network, plus express buses and commuter trains.
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Positive train control (PTC) implementation is expected to cost the freight railroad industry $9 billion to $10 billion, according to a PTC progress update released yesterday by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). As of Dec. 31, 2015, the freight railroads spent more than $6 billion on PTC, as they continue to work on installation and implementation. PTC is a priority for the industry, but it is critical to make sure that the technology is installed and implemented correctly, AAR officials said in a prepared statement. Making sure PTC is done right means field-testing is "essential" for safely deploying the technology, which will be a critical focus for the industry in 2016, they said. Currently, rail operators are discovering failure rates of up to 40 percent as they install and test the PTC equipment in labs and designated pilot territories.
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AZCentral - January 12, 2016
Tensions between striking Phoenix bus drivers and Transdev, the contractor that operates many of the city's bus routes, escalated Monday as drivers blasted the company for suspending their medical insurance as they picket while waiting for a new contract. With the strike entering its fourth day, union members held an emotional rally outside the city's bus yard in south Phoenix. Union President Bob Bean said drivers and their family members had been denied medication and treatment since Transdev stopped their benefits Friday. That included one driver who was set to undergo surgery, he said. "This company has stooped to a low that I have never seen in ... 37 years in transportation and union work," Bean said. "That is as low as it comes."
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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Mankato Free Press - January 11, 2016
The city took a step Monday night toward getting a regional public transportation system from concept to reality. The City Council approved a job description for and authorized recruitment of a temporary staff member who will help to organize the routes and structure of a new transit system. The person for the job, once found, will be paid using grant money from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
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Advocates have been planning a Red Line light rail for years to increase access to jobs. Governor Hogan has other plans.
Last week, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake his new plan for revitalizing West Baltimore called Project C.O.R.E., a $700 million commitment to, above all things, eradicate blight. What many West Baltimore residents and activists had been calling for are better transit options to get them downtown and to neighborhoods in East Baltimore where the jobs are. Up until Hogan took office, they had that coming. The state had approved a 14-mile, west-to-east Baltimore transit project called the Red Line, something called for as early as 1965, and that has been in the works since 2002. Hogan has offered little insight to the public about why he so quickly extinguished the transit project.
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Albuquerque Business First - January 12, 2016
Two new reports say Albuquerque Rapid Transit will improve access to jobs and residences and spur upwards of $3 billion in new property development near the transit corridor. Business owners and concerned citizens have been vocal in their opposition to the city's plans for a new rapid transit system along the Central Avenue corridor, claiming that construction during its implementation could put struggling stores out of business and criticizing the city's planning of the project as "piecemeal" and uninformed.
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